architecture for travellers

Venice: Giardini Entry Gate (Italy)

Giardini Entry Gate

Carlo Scarpa designed this entry gate around the same time as the Italian Pavilion Courtyard. While it is no longer used as the entrance to the Giardini Biennale Pavilions it is a beautiful composition with a rough aggregate concrete base and planterboxes that has weathered over time; a steel framed structure with cruciform columns and bowed timber fillets attached, supporting wired-glass windows and a canvas roof. It is another of Scarpa’s excellent lessons in materials and detailing.